Kiss more and lower your stress … and maybe even your cholesterol
Swapping spit is also noted to boost dopamine, which aids in feelings of romantic attachment.
KISSING naturally relaxes you. Scientific reports say kissing increases the levels of oxytocin, the body’s natural calming chemical.
It improves our mood by increasing endorphins, which are our feel-good hormones
Swapping spit is also noted to boost dopamine, which aids in feelings of romantic attachment.
According to research, kissing lowers stress.
It decreases the stress hormone cortisol and increases serotonin levels in the brain.
Kissing has also been measured to lower anxiety and has similar benefits to meditation.
HEALTH BENEFITS
According to Dr Joseph Mercola, kissing not only feels good, it’s good for you.
It relieves stress and releases epinephrine into your blood, making it pump faster, which may result in a reduction of LDL cholesterol.
Kissing may even be a novel way to receive certain hormones, like testosterone.
Andréa Demirjian, author of Kissing: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures, believes ‘a kiss a day really can keep the doctor away.’
Here are 7 reasons why, she says:
1. Lower blood pressure: Kissing helps to dilate your blood vessels, which may help lower your blood pressure.
2. Prevent headaches: The blood-vessel-dilation effect described above also helps to relieve pain, particularly from headache or menstrual cramps.
3. Fight Cavities: When you kiss, saliva production increases in your mouth, and this helps to wash away plaque on your teeth that may lead to cavities. That said, cavity-causing bacteria can also be transmitted via a kiss, especially if the person you’re kissing has poor oral habits. It’s even been shown that cavity-causing bacteria can spread from a mother’s kiss to her baby.
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4. Release your happy hormones: Kissing prompts your brain to release a happy elixir of feel-good chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. This isn’t only important for your happiness, it also may also help to strengthen your relationship.
5. Burn calories: It’s not going to replace your workout session, but a vigorous kiss may burn 8-16 calories.
6. Boost your self-esteem: One study found that men who received a passionate kiss before they left for work earned more money.
7. Tones your facial muscles: A vigorous kiss helps you shape up your neck and jawline by working out a number of facial muscles.
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